LOGINMia’s POV“Brin…”The name left my lips as little more than a whisper.The sanctuary answered with silence.Not one warrior moved.Not one sword was raised.Even the Hollow standing at the broken walls had gone still, their empty eyes fixed on the man kneeling before me.Black mist curled around Brin’s body like living chains.It coiled over his arms, wrapped around his chest, and climbed slowly toward his face.His blue eyes…They were gone.In their place stretched an endless darkness.Cold.Bottomless.The Void spoke through him.“You finally returned.”Its voice echoed unnaturally, as though a thousand mouths were speaking at once.The sound made the ancient pillars tremble.I took one slow step forward.“Give him back.”A smile spread across Brin’s face.Wrong.Everything about it was wrong.Brin’s smiles had always reached his eyes.This one never did.“You ask as though he belongs to you.”“He belongs to himself.”The smile faltered.Only for an instant.But I saw it.So did th
Mia’s POVPain.Not the kind that came from wounds.Not the kind that faded with time.This pain reached into every part of me.The instant my hands touched the Heart of Luna, silver light surged through my veins like molten fire. Every heartbeat became louder until it drowned out every other sound.The chamber disappeared.The lake of moonlight.The Moon Mother.Everything.I was floating.Weightless.Surrounded by endless stars.The Heart hovered before me, no longer a crystal, but a living sphere of silver light. It pulsed gently, as though waiting for my answer.Do not fear me.The voice was not spoken.It blossomed inside my soul.“I don’t,” I whispered.“I fear failing.”The light drifted closer.Every Guardian has feared the same thing.A thousand images burst around me.Women.Men.Wolves from ages long forgotten.Each wore the same silver mark glowing over their heart.Each stood before the Heart.Each accepted its burden.Some ruled kingdoms.Some healed the dying.Some gave
Mia’s POVThe tendril of darkness crashed downward.It wasn’t reaching for me.It wasn’t reaching for the Guardian Beast.It was reaching for the Heart.“No!” the Guardian Beast roared.The ancient wolf launched itself forward, its massive body slamming into the tendril. The impact shook the sanctuary so violently that several marble pillars split down the middle.Black mist erupted everywhere.The tendril wrapped itself around the Guardian’s foreleg.The beast snarled in pain.For the first time since I’d met it…It bled.Not red.Silver.The shimmering blood splashed across the sanctuary floor, and wherever it landed, dead runes flared back to life.“The Heart!” the Guardian cried.“Protect the Heart!”Brin was already moving.“Mia, go!”He grabbed my shoulders, his blue eyes locking onto mine.“Don’t look back.”“What about you?”A smile tugged at the corner of his mouth despite the chaos.“When have you ever been able to get rid of me?”A laugh escaped me before tears filled my ey
Mia’s POVThe mountain shook beneath our feet.A section of the sanctuary wall collapsed with a deafening crash, sending clouds of stone dust into the air.Moonlight streamed through the opening.Beyond it…They came.Thousands of them.Faceless creatures pulled themselves up the mountainside like living nightmares. Their bodies shifted constantly between smoke and solid form, long claws digging into the rock as empty white eyes locked onto the sanctuary.No battle cries.No growls.Only silence.That frightened me more than anything.“They’re climbing fast!” Rowan shouted.The united warriors rushed to the broken wall, forming defensive lines. Silver Pack wolves stood shoulder to shoulder with Shadow soldiers, shields raised together.Only a few hours ago, they would have killed each other without hesitation.Now…They were all that stood between the world and extinction.The Guardian Beast stepped beside me.“They are called the Hollow.”“The Hollow?” I asked.“They were once living
Mia’s POVNo one moved.The shadow hanging above the cracked sanctuary floor had no face.No eyes.No mouth.Yet every part of me felt as though it was being watched.The frost creeping across the marble spread beneath my boots.Where it touched the ancient silver runes, their glow dimmed.Not extinguished.Smothered.The Guardian Beast released a low growl that echoed through the sanctuary.“Do not listen.”Its voice thundered inside every mind.“It has no power over hearts that remain united.”The formless darkness stirred.A sound followed.Not laughter.Not speech.Whispers.Thousands of them.They came from every direction at once.Some sounded like frightened children.Others like grieving mothers.Others…Like people I had loved.“Mia…”I froze.That voice.It was my mother’s.Gentle.Warm.Exactly as I remembered.“Sweetheart…”The whisper drifted through the hall.“I’m cold.”My heart lurched.No.No, this couldn’t be real.“I need you.”Every instinct begged me to run toward
Mia’s POVThe sanctuary trembled.Not from the armies outside.Not from the Shadow King’s presence.From something beneath us.A deep vibration rolled through the marble floor, rattling the ancient pillars until dust drifted from the ceiling.The silver runes lining the walls flickered wildly.Some went dark altogether.The Guardian Beast lifted its massive head, nostrils flaring.“No…”Its usually calm voice carried unmistakable alarm.“It cannot be.”Another crack split the air.This one didn’t come from the sky.It came from the heart of the sanctuary.A jagged line spread across the marble floor beneath the floating pendant.Silver light leaked from the crack like liquid moonlight.Mixed with it…A thin ribbon of black mist.The moment the mist touched the air, every instinct inside me screamed.Run.My wolf whimpered.Not out of fear.Out of recognition.“What is that?” I whispered.No one answered.Not immediately.Even the Shadow King had gone still.His eyes were fixed on the
Mia’s POV Morning came too quickly.I barely slept.Everytime I closed my eyes, I was back at the overlook, standing beside Loren with the city lights below us and his voice is too steady, too honest, saying things I had been trying hard not to think about.When something happens, you are the firs
Alpha Bladens POV Viana still doesn't say anything.Her gaze lowers— not in uncertainty, but in thoughts. Like she is weighing something that doesn’t want to be spoken aloud. Her fingers shift slightly at her side, barely noticeable, but enough.Enough to stretch the moment longer than it should b
Alpha Bladen POV I wake up already knowing something is wrong.It isn’t the pain.The pai. Has always been there—constant, dull, buried beneath everything else like something waiting its turn. I’ve learned to exist around it. To ignore it when I need to.This is different.This feels like…. absenc
Loren POV“It was you,” he whispered again.The words did not sound loud, but they seemed to travel further than they should have, settling heavily in the air and in the cell.No one moved at that moment.Mia stood beside me,her posture straight but tense, as though something inside her had locked i







